Chapter Twenty Seven: Consolidation
April 3rd
7:34pm
Black Chateau, Isle of Man
Harry
The tall glass window overlooking the Irish Sea provided a good place for distraction as he awaited the arrival of his allies. The summit, as Daphne had taken to calling it, was the first time he would be introducing many of the senior and junior members of his organisation. All of them were legal members of P and G Securities, a lie they all told themselves to avoid inflammatory terms like 'militia' or 'rebel.' A debate they couldn't give life to, getting hung up on the details was something he was learning to let go of, a skill he was hoping to instil in those who didn't already possess it.
The moon cast an incredible light on the black ocean waves which struggled to be free of the gravitational manipulation of its overlord. A struggle he couldn't help but to compare to his own, two forces ever locked in a tug of war, one trying to be free and the other pulling it back into captivity.
'One hopes my own struggle will be less eternal,' he mused and added morbidly, 'one way or another.'
The door to the meeting hall creaked open and Harry checked the time with a silent tempus. Seven forty three, still close to twenty minutes until the meeting, someone was frightfully early. Harry heard the person shuffle along, each passing second the sound grew louder. If Harry had to guess, the person was nervous about something because even once he was close enough for conversation, the person neglected to speak.
The early bird was obvious for Harry, although the reason for their presence was less discernible. "Good evening Sirius," he greeted, not giving the man the respect of eye contact.
The tension between the two wasn't unlike what Harry was experiencing with Daphne; however where duty brought the Gryffindor and the Slytherin together, no such responsibility was present with Sirius. To Sirius' credit, he'd managed to get out of his alcohol spiral thanks to an empathetic Remus and Tonks, but had been unable to crawl out of the gaping pit of self loathing. He spent a lot of time at Godric's Hollow, Remus had told Harry, visiting the monument in the street and Harry's parents' graves. A luxury Harry didn't allow himself.
"Uh- Hello Harry," Sirius replied. Harry imagined Sirius rubbing the back of his neck as he usually did when he was nervous.
"You're quite early," Harry commented idly, he was in no hurry to discover Sirius' intentions.
"Yes… yes you're right. I came to ask if I am still, uh how do I say this, welcome… at these meetings?"
The question irritated him slightly, with a condescending tone he replied, "just because you haven't been exercising your rights to council doesn't mean they have been stripped from you." The second he said it he felt bad though, today was about bringing people together, not tearing them down. With a sigh, he turned around and saw the damage to Sirius' mood his condescension had wrought, the man looked like a wounded puppy. Sad wide eyes and a small frown was all Harry needed to know he had been wrong to berate the man further.
'More negativity will drown him, a lighter approach might be best,' he thought. Subconsciously using skills Daphne had taught him about manipulation. Harry stepped forward to stand in front of Sirius, somewhere in the recesses of his mind he noted he was almost as tall as the man now. Giving the man a side on profile, he raised his right arm and laid it on Sirius' shoulder. "You were the first to raise me from the dirt," Harry reminded him, "I was an abnormally lucky, scrawny boy and you gave me the tools to become a man with agency. Everything we've achieved, we've done so because Sirius Black stepped up when no one else would."
Sirius pulled Harry into a hug, the bone crushing kind, and whispered a hoarse "thank you" in Harry's ear. Harry hoped this was a turning point in Sirius' decline, a directional change to a brighter future. A theme he planned to carry over into the meeting, forgetting the mistakes of the past, facing the present's problems to create an optimal future.
When Sirius let go he did so with a small flinch. "The kids are here," he said, having felt their arrival in the wards. His announcement wasn't necessary though, as heir Black, Harry had felt them too.
"Go," Harry prompted, "show them the grounds for a beat, there's still some time until the others arrive."
Having been dismissed, if politely, Sirius left to greet Hermione, Blaise, Luna and Neville, all of which having arrived by portkey provided by Moody. The reason for Sirius' dismissal was threefold: it cut out the unnecessary small talk that would've followed, it provided the students with a guide and Harry had noticed something out of the corner of his eye.
"You've taken to spying on me again?" Harry asked to the seemingly empty room. A shimmer to his right faded and Daphne took its place, dressed casually with her favourite leather jacket.
"I feared the worst," Daphne said simply.
Harry nodded and returned to observing the sea at the window. "Wise I suppose," he half heartedly complimented.
A glance in her direction indicated what she thought of his tone and the meeting in general. She appreciated the need for more purpose than only victory for victory's sake but she was the only one who understood what prompted the meeting in the first place. With his death being nigh unavoidable, ensuring the people fighting under him kept the struggle up they had to determine what they we're fighting for, an idea not just a person.
"I understand you don't agree with why this meeting was called so I thank you for going along with it anyway," he said sincerely.
"I too understand if you want to give up on your own life but you can't expect others to so easily cast it aside as you have," Daphne retorted. Her arms were crossed and her brow furrowed, whilst most would describe her as mostly imperceptible, he could tell she was more than frustrated.
Despite her feelings though, she remained determined to save his life. Spending an inconceivable amount of hours in her home library, the Hogwarts library and even making trips into Knockturn. It fascinated him, truly, so he thought to ask her about it.
"How do you remain so determined?" Her annoyed look had him thinking she wasn't taking him seriously. "I'm serious," he assured, "what do you tell yourself to keep going?"
Daphne's frustrated features morphed into fond recollection. "When I was ten," she began as she pulled a chair from the table to face Harry and sat in it, "my father took my family to a festival for… Beltane I think it was. A wooded area not so far from Hogwarts actually. The large bonfire we were making needed more firewood so father sent myself and one of the daughters of another family to find some."
Harry pulled up his own chair to listen more intently. He'd heard stories from her life but not so far back as this and he'd be lying if he wasn't already invested.
"It was dark," she explained, "but the camp was close enough and the moon illuminated the forest through the leaves. After about ten minutes of gathering wood, the other girl screamed and pointed behind me. I whirled around to see a Gytrash looming over me. I heard her sprint off as I stood there, paralysed."
"Gytrash… the horse demon things? Forked tail and all?" Harry asked, never having seen one himself.
"They're more hound-like in person but yeah," she corrected. "So the other girl is long gone at this point and I have the same bright idea as her - run like hell."
Harry snorted at that, not in a derogatory way though. Nine year old Harry would've pissed himself at the sight of a magical spirit dog so the snort was more of an acknowledgment of her own amusement at the memory.
"I ran for what felt like forever but I could always hear its breath and ethereal paws bouncing off the forest floor behind me. I eventually came to a dead end, a small cliff leading down into a ravine. The damned spirit was right there in front of me, inching towards me as I backed up on the rapidly disappearing cliff top. It got so close and in my face that I just lashed out, all of my fear and desperation pouring out in my first use of wandless magic. A burst of light came out of my hands, scaring away the beast but simultaneously sending me down the rise into the ravine."
The story was immensely captivating to Harry, who caught himself leaning forward in his seat anxiously waiting to find out what happened next. Fearing for the young Daphne despite knowing she was here in front of him, unharmed.
"I passed out, whether from the magical effort or the impact I still don't know. Later on I'd find out I was out for the better part of a day and that my father had personally led a search to find me and was somewhere in the forest the same time I was just waking up."
Harry had no doubt Damien Greengrass would've torn the entire first to shreds to find his daughter, the same fate awaiting anyone who tried to stop him.
"My problems weren't over though, in fact they had only multiplied. I was lost, no food or water and worst still, I had broken my left leg in the fall.
"First I had to drag myself from the ravine using vines and sticks as spikes in the wall of soil. Twice I fell from the vines and had to start all over again. Then, I trudged through the forest, over the hills and through the mud. Somewhere along the way I learned if I kept the bone in one place that it would hurt less so I tied two sticks to either side of my leg with vines. For three days I didn't eat or drink, I just walked or rather hobbled in the direction I remembered camp being. On the third day though, I had just crested a hill in a large clearing and I could see a large plume of smoke in the air."
"The Beltane bonfire," Harry realised, appreciating the fact someone thought to light it still. The story made him respect her resolve so much more. She wasn't just tough with age, she had been tested by the elements and won. He didn't think he could think more highly of her, he was wrong.
"Indeed," she said with a small smile. "My father had been unable to find me because I had been walking adjacent to the camp, but my mother pushed to light the fire prematurely so that if I was out there, I could follow it home. By the time I had made it back to the camp, my body gave up on me and the last memory I have before passing out is Astoria spotting me exit the tree line."
"Fascinating," he thought out loud, an air of wonder emanating from him. He'd usually be more reserved with someone's tales of triumph but no one could deny the story was a phenomenal example of strength and perseverance.
"To answer your question," she said, bringing it full circle. "In those three and a half days, no one expected a small child to survive the wilderness. I didn't even believe it deep down but I just kept telling myself to keep going forward no matter what, just keep putting one foot in front of the other and push. Push through the pain, the doubt, any obstacles nature would throw at me. I had to keep going forward, if I didn't, I was destined to end up as a cautionary tale."
"And now," Harry added, "you have become one of the foremost magical combatants with an impressive list of accomplishments."
"Exactly," she replied in a satisfied tone. "That event obviously had a lasting effect, but for the better I think. I learnt those days that no matter how many times someone tells me no or that what I want is impossible, I will find a way to persevere."
The connotations were as plain as day, she didn't need to spell it out for him. She was going to keep going forward, keep trying to find a way to kill the horcrux without killing Harry, no matter how long it took or who told her it was impossible. The thought mellowed him considerably, to fight so hard for your own life was expected in her story but to do so for him was something he would cherish for as long as he was alive.
"Thank you," was his mediocre reply, he couldn't show his gratitude as he would have liked to without getting overly emotional, a dangerous state to be in right now for him. Besides, just as he spoke those words he felt the wards detect more arrivals and the doors to the meeting hall snapped open with people beginning to file in for the meeting. He released a breath he didn't realise he was holding and prepared to preside over the people he presumed to lead.
April 3rd
8:02pm
Black Chateau
Daphne
She watched him let out a sigh in preparation. The whole story might've been a bit too much considering they still had
the whole night of work to do but she felt it got the point across in the best way. Not many knew that tale, not many deserved to know and only one needed to hear it.
She watched him stand from the chair he was using to talk to her and move it back to the head of the table. She did the same as he went to greet the newcomers, she briefly caught the eyes of the twins who seemed to have a flare of pride in their expressions.
'I dread to think why they feel proud of themselves,' she lamented internally. A single prank pulled in this hall would have her unleashing all of her frustration on the two dunderheads faster than lightning. She stood behind her chair, waiting for more people to enter the room. Alastor and Nymphadora then Remus and Sirius and, finally, her father who walked directly towards her.
"Daughter," he greeted amicably. Her father seemed tired, and his wrinkles were much more prominent than she'd last taken notice of, physical consequences of war.
"Father. You look tired?" she said, phrasing it as a question.
"I am tired," he replied grumpily. "Hopping from here to the mainland to the rest of Europe is draining."
"Hunting were we?" she continued, referring to the horcruxes.
"Yes and each day I am left with little more than the day before." He took his seat next to hers and practically melted into it. "This woman refers me to that man and then that man refers me to a goblin, then the goblin refers me to the same bloody woman from the start… and they were all in different Merlin be damned countries!"
"A shame then," she noted, "which had you hoped to find?"
"The goblet Hepzibah Smith bought was off of a Caractarus Burke from Borgin and Burke's but before them some old French family had it. They're extinct in the male line of course so their records are ridiculously hard to get a hold of… even with them, I hit a dead end."
"We'll find them," Daphne said resolutely to which Damien gave her a supportive smile.
"Alright!" Harry called out, "why doesn't everyone take a seat, Dobby will bring refreshments in a few moments but we can get started without them."
The rest of the congregated group took their seats. The Greengrass duo exchanged nods and quiet words of greeting with those they hadn't already. Daphne sat to Harry's right with her father, the traditional place for the most powerful allied family. Sirius, Nymphadora and Remus sat opposite them, in the place of Harry's only living family, Moody too but for no significant reason. The students and the twins were split either side of the table making for a total of eleven members of the group.
'A poultry number, still something to work on… perhaps the auror Harry met at the party could be persuaded to join,' she mused. The problem with bringing in more people was the risk of betrayal grew with every person, you can never know someone's true intentions.
Harry had stayed standing as everyone took their seat and when he had the attention of the room he spoke, "I would first like to welcome everyone here, I would count you all as my closest friends and allies so I would also like to thank each and every person here for their contributions to this effort."
"Not a problem boss," the twins said in unison as they saluted him.
Harry smiled and sat down before speaking again. "We generally start off with reports from key members so, Alastor, how is the ministry doing?"
Moody nodded and began in his gruff voice, "the ministry is operating well enough lad. The messiness of the vampire ambush seems to have left the clan too fearful to join Voldemort. Scrimengour has won some credibility back after the disaster in December."
Daphne flicked her eyes to Neville and found rage rather than sadness and wasn't sure which she would have preferred.
"That is good news, if we continue to back the ministry in their efforts we may be able to draw out its fall."
"Harry," Hermione began from the end of the table, "why wouldn't we aim to keep it up rather than give up on it already?"
"The ministry already has moles throughout, whilst we can't pinpoint them we have seen crucial intel disappear and the tipping off of targets. The fall is coming but the more time we have to prepare, the better," Tonks explained.
It was true, the longer the ministry was active, the longer they'd be the main target and not the group assembled tonight. They were playing the long game, hopefully it worked out for them.
Seeing that Hermione was satisfied with the answer, Harry turned to Remus and asked, "and the order?"
"The order hasn't been very active recently," Remus revealed with a sad tone. "The absence of leadership has left people trying to form plans themselves but they generally fall through without any structure."
"What is Dumbledore playing at?" Sirius asked thoughtfully, a sentiment many shared.
"Dumbledore," Harry began, "is working on something for me." The surprise of many in the group was evident, Dumbledore working under Harry? It was unthinkable.
"More important than the order?" Hermione questioned disbelievingly.
"Significantly so," Daphne answered dryly. She weathered Hermione's annoyed expression and turned lazily to Harry when Hermione backed down.
"The order is about as effective as they've always been. Remus, I'd like you to consider who you think might be an asset to our cause in the order's ranks."
Remus nodded agreeably at Harry's order and replied, "I've already got a few in mind."
"Wonderful," Harry commented sincerely before shifting his eyes to the twins. "I heard from Hermione you have some things to show me?"
The twins stood and one of them, George she guessed, spoke first. "Indeed we do."
They pulled out a mokeskin bag and the first one to speak put his hand in up to the shoulder before pulling out a mini-sized trunk. He placed the trunk on the table and used his wand to resize it to a regular sized one. The weathered case flicked open magically and the same Twin pulled out a piece of dark grey material.
"Weasley's Wizard's Wheezes would like to present…the Vigilant Vest!"
At Fred's exclamation the vest in George's hand sparkled. The vest looked sturdy but free flowing enough to be comfortable, Daphne figured this was the end product of Harry's plan to have them remake the auror robes.
"Named after our dear friend Mad-eye Moody, this vest offers the same protection of standard issue auror robes whilst being less invasive in battle," Fred continued presenting. Whilst he was, George was handing out one to each person at the table. "With a retractable hood and customisable colour and fit, our valiant fighters will be protected from both the elements and dastardly death eater spells."
"Impressive spell work," Remus commented as he ran his wand down the jacket. Daphne's own inspection came to the same conclusion. When weaving protective enchantments into clothes, one had to be careful not to make them too rigid lest they break with basic movement and the odd wear and tear. These charms though were marvellously embedded in the weavings of the fabric and adapted with every slight movement.
"I look forward to testing its limits tomorrow, from what I can tell though, you two have done good work," Harry complemented.
The twins packed away their suitcase but not before pulling out a compact wooden box and saying, "a supply of Peruvian darkness powder too, at your request."
"Well done lads," Moody muttered in response with a rare look of respect. She didn't remember ever seeing the two inventors so happy.
"I too have something to report," Harry started, gaining everyone's attention. "Our man Blaise over there has been tailing Draco Malfoy for the better part of this year under reasonable suspicion of death eater activity. Just under a month ago we uncovered a plot to assault the castle and kill the headmaster."
Various noises of surprise went up around the room, only two people had knowledge of this before the meeting, so the declaration was quite a shock. "The audacity to attack the castle so brazenly could mean we've underestimated the Dark Lord's strength," her father said from beside her.
"There's nothing brazen about it," she retorted. "He plans to use a vanishing cabinet to smuggle his followers into the school. He does not have the strength for a siege, so he is opting for assassination."
"I agree," Blaise input, "I would also like to suggest the Dark Lord has no intentions for this plan to succeed."
"What do you mean?" Tonks asked with interest, a feeling felt by most on the table.
"We only know of this plan because Draco is breaking. I believe he was charged with this to punish his family for his father's failure last July."
"A theory," Harry backed, "that both Daphne and I agree with. If Draco fails, Voldemort is given an excuse to execute one of his most respected allies and if he doesn't then Dumbledore dies." She could see the understanding dawn on each person's face in time, the plan, as Harry and her had come to believe, was a win-win situation for Voldemort. "That brings me on to new assignments, in an effort to make our effort more organised I want to discuss what needs to be done and who needs to be doing it, here and now."
'And to make sure everyone has accountability,' she added in her mind. It wasn't that she didn't trust people to do their jobs but it was better to know others were counting on you.
"Hogwarts students, my word still stands. You will not be involved in any operations outside of Hogwarts. Your job, when the time comes, is to make sure the students of Hogwarts are protected and to assist us if we're fighting in the castle." Neville looked as though he was going to protest but she watched him squash the thought with prejudice, something she didn't think him capable of. "Hermione, Blaise, I also have a research project for you to complete at your own pace. Everything is detailed in these folders here." Harry passed the folders down the line to both of them, he had them searching the Black Library at the Chateau and Grimmauld for any mentions of the word 'horcrux' for both his own and the group's gain.
"Moody, Tonks, start vetting people in the auror force and the rest of the ministry for potential allies and, on the flip side, potential enemies. For the enemies I want to start compiling a dossier of targets to look out for so we can organise a proper investigation of them at any opportunity."
Moody nodded and replied, "I'll start noting down auror files of people under investigation from this war and the last."
"Good," Harry replied. "Fred and George, I want you to focus on things like the Peruvian darkness powder, items to trick and stun the enemy. With your help, I want to revolutionise wizarding warfare."
"We can do that," Fred replied with a mischievous grin. The death eaters would be cursing their luck that they had to fight the pure bizarreness of the Weasley Twins.
"Damien, Remus and Sirius, continue what you're doing. I do not need to state the importance of your task," Harry intoned seriously before turning to her father. "I also need you to start considering what we're going to do after the war."
"After the war? Surely it is more prudent to win it first?" Damien asked as though it was obvious.
"When the war ends there will be a massive power vacuum, the economy of our world will be in shambles and basic services will need to be revived. Adding to that, if we win, I imagine most of the traditionalist power block will be dead or behind bars so we have to consider what kind of society we want to be and I think you, and the rest of us at this table, will have a large role in shaping that.."
Harry's explanation was the turning point in the conversation, away from what they're physically going to be doing and what they'll be doing it for. "I am honoured you think so highly of me Harry," Damien began, "but that is a massive task, the economy alone will be almost impossible to repair without outside help…"
"Then focus entirely on that, forget about the horcruxes. Myself, Daphne, Remus and Sirius will focus on locating them. You focus on making sure we aren't thrust into another civil war the second we win one." He turned his attention to all of them after and spoke in a stronger voice than before saying, "this war, it gives us purpose; fight evil and take the day but what happens when we do take the day? When evil lay dead what unites us? That is what we'll determine in these meetings not just how we're going to win but why we deserve to."
Harry's declaration brought thoughtful expressions to everyone's face. For some of them, their highest priority was getting good grades a year ago, now they are being called to shape the future of their world. Daphne would've been ecstatic at the direction this council was turning if only she hadn't recognised the twitch in Harry's eye as sadness, believing he'd never see the world they created.
A/N: We're pretty much 75% done with ATFS
I hope you all enjoyed Sirius coming back into the fold a little more, it felt wrong to keep him so distraught after the life he's led. Harry doesn't trust him entirely yet but recognises he shouldn't leave anything unsaid.
Daphne's story was a lot of fun to write, initially I had it as just her saying something uplifting but this made her much more whole as a character. We had her training back story to explain her powers and her fear of being irrelevant motivating her but confidence had to come from somewhere deep for her to be this driven. So, Harry got story time.
The first time we've had everyone in the same room started extremely well. Making sure the group has ideas and ideals to fight for in the future is what keeps the movement alive. Right now, Harry and Voldemort are at the centre and if either of them die then their groups will crumble but with a solid purpose behind their fight then their groups will continue the struggle for them.
Tune in next chapter for ancient words of wisdom and some perspective
Hope you all enjoyed :)
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